Card compressor



Dec. 29, 1942. 'H. B. JOHNSON y2,305,445

- f CARD COMPRESSOR Filed Aug. 21, 1942 Patented Dec. 29, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CARD COMPRESSOR Hugh B. Johnson, Rochester, N. Y.

Application August 21, i942, 4Serial No. 455,590

('Cl. 12g- 27) (Granted under 'the actof March 3, 1883, as

amended April 30, 1928; 370 '0. G. 757) 3 Claims.

The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

The present invention relates to card compressors, and more particularly to compressors of the card follower type, 'arranged tocompress a stack of cards in a file cabinet by exerting pressure against one end of the stack.

It may be explained that in numerous types of modern office machinery rather large pasteboard cards, suitably punched, are used to record pertinent information and that, to insure perfect operation of the machinery, these cards should be maintained in perfectly flat,smooth condition at all times,

The cards may be lkep-t in this condition by storing in le cabinets having suitable compressors, or wedging structures, to bear against the end of the stack of cards in the cabinet and prevent any possibility of warping. Such structures are well known and many suitable types of such devices are in use and have been heretofore available as products of manufacture. All satisfactory types known to the present inventor, however, have been manufactured largely'of metal, or have at least required some metal plates, sheets, stampings or clamps in o-rder to function properly and to perform their essential purpose in a satisfactory manner. Under present circumstances, however, metal structures are not available, Or at least not desirable, in View of the wartime necessity of conserving strategic materials.

It is therefore, the principal object of the pres-- ent inventionV to provide a card compressor of novel mechanical design, such that it is adapted to be manufactured almost entirely of wood, or of other similar non-critical material.

Avfurther object of the invention is to provide a card compressor of wood or other non-critical material and of such design as `to include relatively few parts, each of the parts being of simple configuration, well adapted to manufacture on conventional types of work-working machinery, and adapted to withstand a considerable degree of abuse without appreciable wear or damage.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing attached to and forming a part of the present specification,

Fig. 1 is a side elevational View of a card compressor constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevational view thereof, showing the compressor structure associated with the bottom panel of a card cabinet, and

Fig. `3 is a detail sectional view taken substantially on the plane of the line 3-3 in Fig. 2.

The compressorstructureincludes, in general, a flat pressure plate adapted to extend substantially across the card compartment in a file drawer at the rear of a stack of cards in order to bear against the rear -of the stackand force the cards into tightly compressed relationship. The pressure plate is preferably slidably mounted on a split file drawer bottom, and wedging mechanism is provided so that the pressure plate may be rmly forced into engagement with thev stack of cards.

As illustrated in the drawing, the pressure plate il) consists of a relatively long, narrow and flat wooden boar-d extending substantially across the width of the le'drawer and of a height slightly greater than the Widthof cards to be filed in the drawer. The plate rlll rests Aon side panels li and l2 of the bottom of the drawer, and is anchored against removal fromthe drawer'by means-of a retaining anchor fI-S screwedto the lower edge of the plate l0 by the wood screws I4 .and l5 and spaced apart fro-m the lower edge of the pressure plate by a spacing strip it. The spacing strip'l is slightly thicker than the panels H and l2 of the le bottom so that .the pressure yplate retaining anchor and spacer wllbe free to slide longitudinally along the file drawer, unless clamped in position by a device to be hereinafter described. It has been pointed out, however, that the prime object of the invention is to provide a device adapted to be wedged into pressure engagement with the stack of cards (such as the stack.

I1, illustrated in Fig. 3), and to this end a suitable foundation and wedging mechanism is provided immediately behind pressure plate l0.

The wedging structure includes a foundation block 2l of rectangular configuration extending i transversely across the file drawer, immediately behind the pressure plate Il] and in a position immediately above the panels Il and i2, so that the vopposite ends ofthe foundation block 2l will rest on and be supported 'by these panels. The Ipressure plate l' and the foundation block 2l are slidably united by means of wood `screws 22, whichjextend through ywashersf23 and are secured in the foundation block 2l, as indicated at 24.

-. The screws 22 extend through vertical clearance slots 25 so that vertical movement between the pressure plate I0 and the foundation block 2l is permitted; but the washers 23 bear against the bottom surface of counterbores 26, so that the pressure plate and foundation block are perma.,

nently united and cannot separate from each other.

The rear face of the pressure plate I3 is provided with a pair of triangular braces 21 xedly secured to the plate in any conventional mann-er, as by means of the wood screws 28 and 29. A wedge 3| is positioned between the upper surface of the foundation block 2| and the lower surface of the braces 21. The wedge 3| has a tapered portion 32 at its forward end and includes a transverse grip rail 33 extending its entire length so that it may be easily manipulated by hand, either to force the tapered portion 32 into wedging engagement with the braces 21, or to facilitate moving the wedge rearwardly to release it from such engagement.

The wedge 3| is slidably connected to the foundation block El by means of the screws 35 and washers 36. The screws 35 are threaded into the foundation block 2| and the washers 36 eng-age shoulders of the T slots 38 formed in the rear portion of the wedge 3|. The arrangement is such that the wedge 3| is free to move forwardly or rearwardly but will be limited in its movement, so that it will not disengage the braces completely and so that it will not become separated from the foundation block.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The operator will ll the file drawer with the desired number of cards positioned in the stack |1 and will then draw the pressure plate il! into firm engagement with the rear end of the stack, applying a reasonable degree of pressure against the cards to accomplish the preliminary compression. As the block I0 reaches its pressure position, the operator will move the Wedge 3| forwardly, thus exerting a wedging action between the foundation plate, or block 2|, and the pressure plate l0, to force the upper end or edge of the pressure plate firmly into engagement with the top of the stack of cards. The wedging engagement between the foundation block 2|, wedge 3|, and braces 21 will react to exert -a clamping force between the retaining anchor i3 and the lower surfaces of the le floor and l2, and will thus lock the compressor structure against relative movement with respect to the file drawer.

To remove the pressure and permit removal of cards from the stack, it is only necessary to grip the transverse rail 33 and shift the wedge 3| rearwardly to disengage the cam surfaces and loosen the structure for sliding movement along the panels and I2.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that by practicing the teachings of the present invention a novel and entirely satisfactory card follower may be constructed having compression characteristics, so that it will not only act as a card follower, but will exert a compressing action in response to the operation of its wedging mechanism. Further, the construction and arrangement of parts of the structure are such that it may be constructed entirely out of wood or similar non-critical materials and so that it will function properly, without requiring any type of metal stampings, latches, plates, or similar devices that are dicult to obtain or require special tools or machinery to manufacture in mass production.

Having thus described my invention, what claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a filing drawer having a pair of bottom panels, in combination, a pressure plate consisting of a single, at rectangular board of uniform thickness; a retaining anchor connected to said pressure plate and engaging the lower surfaces of said bottom panels; -a foundation block behind the aforementioned pressure plate and resting in contact with the upper surfaces of the bottom panels of the le drawer; a slidable connection between the said pressure'plate and foundation block; a .brace on the rear face of said pressure plate, and a transverse wedge extending across the rear of said pressure plate and including a tapered portion adapted to be wedged between the upper surface of the foundation block and the lower surface of said brace.

2. In a filing drawer having a pair of bottom panels, in combination, a pressure plate consisting of a single, fiat rectangular board of uniform thickness; a retaining anchorconnected to said pressure plate and engaging the lower surfaces of said bottom panels; a foundation block consisting of a single long, slender rectangular wooden block extending transversely of the file drawer immediately behind the aforementioned pressure plate and resting in contact with the upper surfaces of the bottom panels of the le drawer; a slidable connection between the said pressure plate and foundation block consisting of a screw and slot behind the operating face of the pressure plate, a plurality of braces on the rear face of said pressure plate, and a single transverse wedge extending across the rear of said pressure plate and including a tapered portion adapted to be wedged between the upper surface of the foundation block and the lower surface of said braces.

3. In a filing drawer having la pair of bottom panels, in combination, a pressure plate consisting of a single, flat rectangular board of uniform thickness; a retaining anchor consisting of a single wooden strip below and in ralignment with said pressure plate and connected thereto, together with a spacing strip interposed between said retaining anchor and the aforementioned pressure plate to maintain said anchor and plate in spaced-apart relationship above and below the lower panel surfaces of the bottom of the file drawer; a foundation block consisting of a single long, slender, rectangular wooden block extending transversely of the file drawer immediately behind the aforementioned pressure plate and resting in contact with the upper surfaces of the bottom of the file drawer; a slidabe connection between the said pressure plate and foundation block consisting of a screw and slot behind the operating face of the pressure plate; a plurality of braces on the rear face of said pressure plate, and a single transverse wedge extending across the rear of said pressure plate and including a tapered portion `adapted to be wedged between the upper surface of the foundation block and the lower surface of said braces; said wedge including a slidable retaining connection with the foundation block. Y

HUGH B. JOHNSON. 

